It is the requirement of a number of industries to produce a liquid with totally saturated gases. Of major importance is the treatment of wastewater. Air flotation systems are used in almost every wastewater treatment process to separate and float away contaminants as sludge from the wastewater. These systems are used by a wide variety of industries such as food processing, catering, hotels, restaurants, petrochemical, industrial, mining and the marine industries.
The production of liquids with totally saturated gas component is very difficult, as a gas does not readily mix with a liquid to form a stable solution. The method described provides a system that is ultra efficient in incorporating a gas into a liquid with bubble sizes ranging from one to a hundred microns whilst retaining low cost to manufacture.
Examples of its uses are as follows but are not limited to these. Removal of emulsified oils and grease from water and wastewater is difficult and requires very expensive centrifuge equipment which has limited capacities. The system described can achieve improved results with greater flows at significantly reduced capital and operating cost. Another example of its use is the air flotation of flocculated waste components by very fine air bubbles from a flow of wastewater. Yet another example is the separation of fine fiber particles from fruit juice by floating the fiber particles to the top surface of a separation tank.